Class A2 Bong, Ha Jin (The relation between American economy and wars) The 21th century began with terrorism. On September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack caused widespread consternation and few weeks later, Osama Bin Laden, the Afghan terrorist leader admitted that he planned the terrorist attack through foreign correspondents. Immediately an argument broke out about retaliation. In the end, the Bush administration decided to go to war against Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist group. With this war as a beginning, America began the Iraq War in 2003 and aided Israel in the recent Israel-Lebanon War. The Bush administration has participated in three wars in the name of ‘The War on Terror? Historically, America engaged in major wars such as the First and Second World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Why is America so enthusiastic about fighting? There are many reasons for this but after I noticed that the American economy improved right after the war, I started to look into that matter from an economic point of view. In July 28, 1914, the First World War broke out in Europe. Most European countries drifted into the war. However, America maintained neutrality. Since every factory in Europe had been bombed, all of the European countries had to buy munitions from America. According to ‘The History of The World? export to Europe increased by four times (104). After the war, European countries owed America $10 billion. Also the economic center moved from Lombard Street, London to Wall Street, New York. However, the economic prosperity of America didn’t last for a long time. In October 24, 1924 the stock market crashed. This was the beginning of the Great Depression. The Great Depression lasted for 10 years and affected every country. Every country made every effort to recover from the economic crisis. America also suffered this crisis and had to do something. Therefore, the president Franklin D. Roosevelt carried out the ‘New Deal?policy. However, the policy couldn’t pick up the crashing economy. In that situation, the Second World War took place. This time America also entered the war. After the war, the USA participated in the post-war restoration and the USA’s support was good news not only to industrialists but to European people. According to ‘The upper government ?Those who rule the world? since only few factories in Europe could be used, the Marshall Plan was really helpful. Because of the Marshall Plan, European countries could lift up their crashed economy quickly. Europe would probably have had to spend at least 20 years to restore its economy by themselves. However, the USA’s support shortened 20 years into 5 years. Although America lost a lot of money and many Americans died in the war, economic benefits could cover losses. According to ‘The Engine of America ?The war and the market? America occupied control of half of the world economy and expanded investment opportunity after the war (198). When the war ended, industrialists pressed the American government to provide an opportunity to expand markets in Europe quickly before the Soviet Union. As a result, the European Recovery Program, known as the Marshall Plan, started. This plan was investment for the future. Thanks to this program, American industrialists got a firm foothold in Europe. According to ‘Sands of Empire? after two world wars, industrialists who tasted the enormous profits of a war welcomed wars (294). So the Cold War was welcomed by industrialists and by an American economy. In the Cold War era, people started to regard preparing for a war as ‘a daily occurrence.?This means that people and countries bought weapons although there was no ‘hot war? So the war with communism was a booster for America and its economy. However, the Cold War was not enough to satisfy the demand of American economy. According to ‘The Engine of America - The war and the market? American economy was on the downside since 1949. Investments decreased and the unemployment rate had risen to 7.6% (673). One year later, a war had begun in Korea. For the Koreans, the Korean War was the most miserable calamity in our country’s history. However, it was an opportunity to revive the industry. At the same time, the Korean War was the crisis to lose Korean peninsula to Soviet Union. So, American government engaged in this war to extend its market in Asia, prevent the Soviet Union from invading Asian market and restore its economy. The result of the USA’s participation was advantageous to the whole world. Because the USA succeeded in flourishing free trade markets, there was brisk trading and the growth of economy among a lot of countries. However, we should understand the real USA’s intention from Secretary of State Dean Acheson’s statement that “Thank God, Korea came along and saved us? We can notice that Korea was a victim of American capitalism. This can be interpreted in many ways but the writer of ‘The Engine of America ?The war and the market?interpreted Acheson’s statement in that the Korean War was a fuel for boosting American economy. During the Cold War, America fought with many countries including North Korea and North Vietnam. America engaged in these wars in the name of ‘preventing communization.?However, beyond their superficial goal, there was the plan of American. Since the Vietnam War, there was an endless series of wars in the Middle East. America also engaged in there. George H. Bush decided to enter the Gulf War. The Gulf War had begun because Iraq invaded Kuwait after defined Kuwait as ‘the country which makes Iraq go bankrupt? Although there were peace talks between the two countries, the peace talks broke down. On August 2, 1990 Iraq attacked and occupied the capital of Kuwait, Kuwait city, in 6 hours. Immediately, UN, with USA as the center, decided to use force if Iraq ignores their warning. Thirty three countries with 680,000 troops and 430,000 USA soldiers undertook action. Iraq surrendered in 4 days. After the war, America and American industrialists could have a lot of benefits. America got the authority to control the Iraq economy including oil resources. Other countries were also greeted because they believe that USA won’t cause the oil shock as OPEC did with an oil cartel. It gave positive effect on the world economy by making oil prices more stable. The one another befit from the war is that America could show their high-tech weapons. One of them was Patriot missile. Through CNN America advertised the Patriot missile very efficiently toward the whole world. After the war, the American defense officials visited many countries including Korea and Japan and encouraged them to purchase the new weapons. Most countries spent a lot of money to buy the weapons. For example, Korea had been invested 9.7 billion dollars in purchasing arms from 1990 to 1997. American arms accounted for 84%. Based on these facts, the writer of ‘The Engine of America - The war and the market?said, ‘Because America can sell other countries arms and munitions, the war or the process of preparing war is equal to a successful business.?#060;br> After the Gulf War, there was an economic crisis in Asia. This crisis damaged the American munitions industry. To get over this crisis, America had to raise tensions in the world because people will need weapons when they feel tension. Just then, there was the terrorist attack. Nineteen men trained by al-Qaeda, Afghanistan terrorist group, hijacked four commercial passenger jet planes. They crashed into World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near the town of Shanksville in rural Somerset County. This tragedy resulted in taking 2,973 people’s lives. The Bush administration reacted immediately. President Bush declared ‘The War on Terror?and pushed ahead his plan without the UN’s agreement. Emphasizing the danger of biochemical weapons and countries who threaten world peace, Bush administration raised two wars in the Middle East. However, these wars were different from other wars. During the war, most military works including training units, building camps, paving roads, and transporting goods were managed by private enterprise, Halliburton (467). According to ‘The dangerous world ?5 years from the terrorist?attacked , most companies which participate in the post-war restoration earned more than 10 billion dollars and 61 British companies also made about 2 billion in total. There are more economic benefits to America economy from the Iraq war. According to Bakhtiar Abbas, as soon as America occupies Iraq, America announced a new economic treaty between the USA and Iraq. The 39th statements in the new treaty are (1) Changing 200 state-owned enterprises into private ones (2) Allowing foreigners to possess Iraqi companies (3) Abolishing tax on foreign profits. This new treaty made the USA easier to occupy Iraq economy and Iraqi oil market which is second in production in the world (“Znet?. There are very few people who can agree easily with because of money and few industrialists?intension can break out a war. However, the fact that few people get richer through a war is obvious. This obvious fact makes me impossible to deny that money is one of the most important reasons of a war. I don’t want to believe that money was the reason for fifteen million casualties including three hundred thousand American soldiers in Second World War, five hundred thousand U.N. soldiers and 2 million of the Communist army who died in the Korean War, and destructive bombs which killed hundred of thousand Iraqi troops who fought with aging weapons. These great tragedies make me to think about the value of money and the value of human life. However, the one thing that we should not omit is that there were a lot of positive effects from USA economy policy although it was ill-considered. Europe can’t be restored without the USA and Marshall Plan. It was the USA which encouraged free trade market and managed to make a stable oil price. If we look at the result of American economy policy, it was beneficial to not only them but the whole world. Works Cited Books ✔ Kim, Tae-sue. The History of the world; The 14th chapter - America and collapsed world. Seoul: Gul Sarang Press, 1994 ✔ Choi, Ikiukaba. The upper government - Those who rule the world. Seoul: Hae Naem Press, 2001 ✔ Merry, Robert W. Sands of Empire Gyeonggi: Gimm-Young Publishers, 2005 ✔ Kim, Dong-Reul. The Engine of America - The war and the market Gyeonggi: Chang Bi Press, 2004 Periodicals ✔ Lee, Ji-Yoon. “Things that the Iraq War left.?The Korea Economy 27 Mar. 2006: 13-14. ✔ Lee, Jong-Won. “The dangerous world - 5 years from the terrorist attack in 9/11.?Hankeurae 12 Sept. 2006: 18. Internet Resources -Article in an e-journal ✔ Abbas, Bakhtiar “US vs. Iran: Is an attack inevitable??Znet 5 Sept. 2006 < http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=67&ItemID=10842>. ✔ Shin, Bok-Ryoung. “A study of Secret Armistice Negotiaition in the Korean War.?Korean Political Science Association 8 Oct. 1987 .